There's a time and a place for everything

Byline2:

The world is burning but too often large events are overshadowed by what some might qualify as a small event. The following is no small event but a reminder that the world is made up of all kinds of people.

On Friday, Feb. 23, those who knew her felt a great loss in the passing of Joan Kilgus at her daughter’s home in Arlington, Vt. Joan was born in Glasgow, and her mannerisms and sweetness were equal to any Southern Belle. Extremely active in the Trinity Church of Hilton Head, working in the Sunday school there for over 35 years, and thus having a significant influence on the youngsters called the “Kilgus Kids Cookies.” Married to Jim, her husband of 60 years, was a marriage we all could wish for. The Kilgus’ were the type of people who made you want spend time with them, although it never seemed like enough. Greatness can be calibrated in so many ways. Joan Kilgus’ life was one of the ways. There are many Americans just like her.

For those who follow the activities in the Middle East, the situation still highlights the failure of our president and his administration by preparing a contingency program of what could best be described as “what if.” The president once again was a dollar short as he was too late in addressing the wholesale killing across that area. These past 10 days the president played basketball, coached a sixth-grade girl’s basketball team and hit a few golf balls, giving what one might call a whimsical lifestyle more suited for a law professor. His indecisiveness further identifies him as a Jimmy Carter clone. Last week, while the world looked to Obama for some form of guidance, his major moves came on the dance floor in the White House during two days of honoring Motown music. Granted Marvin Gaye’s, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” is a great song but little comfort for those American troops on the frontline watching the president and wife party hardy as they face life-threatening challenges. As the old saying goes when elected president, “You weren’t promised a rose garden.”

As I often say, this president is unprepared, unqualified and lacking an understanding of what Americans really are like. Maybe we were asking too much from him. Today after at least a 150 speeches on closing Guantanamo Bay and blistering former President Bush on this same issue, it appears Obama has acquiesced to the inevitable fact of keeping Gitmo open.

Compare Obama’s lack of leadership to the leadership of the current governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. Both have challenging positions but unlike Obama, Christie’s leadership skills have made him an unwilling rock star on the national political scene.

Christie has stated, “I have people calling me and saying to me, ‘Let me explain to you how you could win.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re barking up the wrong tree.’ I already know I could win. That’s not the issue,” as reported by various news outlets. Christie a doer; Obama just a talker.

Bill Roe of Bluffton writes from a conservative viewpoint every Thursday. He can be reached at 683-1958.